Baltimore man dies of CO poisoning after using generator inside

A man died Monday evening of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning after running a gasoline generator in the basement of his Northeast Baltimore home, fire department officials said.

The power was out in the neighborhood that evening as Baltimore Gas and Electric workers did maintenance in the area, fire officials said. The man was pronounced dead upon arriving at a hospital.

Fire department officials said they found very high levels of carbon monoxide in the home, which was in the 3600 block of Keene Ave. in the Glenham-Belhar neighborhood. No one else was sickened by the use of the generator, and fire officials sought to highlight the danger of using generators indoors.

"We want to make sure we prevent any life loss in the future," Interim Fire Chief Jeffrey R. Segal said. "If you have to use a generator make sure it's outside the home. Some may even think it's OK to put a generator in the garage — that's not good either."